R.I.P. Dr Death. Class Act. While he was working MidSouthWrestling he lived about 5 mins from me in central la.. Really nice guy. Saw him again 10 years later in Shreveport, la at a GNC and was also very friendly. Hate to hear hear of his death.

they don't seem to make it long do they?? makes me think of linemen in the NFL as well...

the fact of the matter is most male athletes would rather live a life of fame and fortune (and Steve Williams was famous and most likely pretty well off regardless of what you think of wrestling) then live a normal life (like 99% of the posters here) till the average male age of 77. Given the decline in quality of life due to health, stress, pension, expense issues after 50, this result is not all that surprising.

I know I'm throwing general blurbs out there but that is not just my view. I remember reading a SI article a long time ago asking olympians if they would trade in 25 years of their life for a gold medal. The shocking part was that 51% answered YES which is the majority. I would have to spend quite a bit of time finding this article even on the internet but that result resonated with me.

That is why all these steroid admissions are congruent with the lives athletes want to lead (i.e. being wealthy, popular and powerful in their younger years and dying younger or suffering through major health problems when their skills and looks would deteriorate anyway).

Pro football players make this decision on every down. They know full well, potentially getting hit by a volkswagen beetle at 15 MPH is NOT a good thing, but that is the craft they were gifted with and the revenue provided to play the game could fund a third world nation. So they lace em up, week after week.

Barry Sanders walked away for a reason...He didn't want to end up like his great predecessor...Earl Campbell...his health mattered more to him...if they came to him with Manning $$$, maybe his decision would have been different...or maybe not...

AUSTIN – While Tony Dorsettplayed with his kids and Archie Griffin and George Rogersplayed golf Friday at Barton Creek Resort, Earl Campbellwas struggling to walk.

Wearing a burnt orange, Texas golf shirt, white knee-length shorts and new Nikes with a Longhorn logo, Campbell used a walker to inch down a window-lined hallway overlooking one of his favorite golf courses.

He took roughly six minutes to cover 40 yards – a distance he used to breeze through in less than five seconds as a punishing running back at Texas and during an eight-year, Hall of Fame career in theNFL, mostly with the Houston Oilers. Still wearing his trademark beard, now gray, he stands at a 45-degree angle, unable to straighten at his lower back. He can no longer straighten his knees, either.

When the walker becomes too much work, he uses a wheelchair that he travels with at all times. During a 40-minute interview with a few reporters on Friday, Campbell was totally lucid one second and struggling to recall names and prominent dates the next.

I saw him in an interview fairly recently (don't know how old the interview was but prob recent) and he looked in great health. He actually looked younger than he really is and I was thinking being black-balled from wrestling was probably a great thing for him.